Walter Wintermute Visit

Coach and player Walter Wintermute from North Carolina visited MDTTC last night. He'd emailed in advance, saying he would be in town for a business trip, and wanted to observe our coaching. So he watched while I ran a one-hour session with five beginning junior players. Then he watched some of our top juniors in training (Crystal Wang, Derek Nie, Nathan Hsu, others), and played a practice match with another local top junior (Josh Tran). Then we talked table tennis coaching for half an hour. He's been coaching more and more and wanted to see how we did it. So I went over the various techniques used for coaching juniors, as well as how we ran the sessions, the games we played at the end, etc.

Walter and I go way back. In early 1977, when I was 17 and had been playing about a year, I was rated 1480; he was rated just a few points lower and was two years younger. We played in three finals in a tournament in Virginia - I believe it was Under 1500, Under 1600, and Under 1700. He won two of them, alas. Later that year we would both shoot up in ratings to 1900. Two years later, in 1979, I would move to North Carolina for two years, where I would play Walter regularly on weekends and at the monthly tournaments.

The last two years his son, David, 15, has been coming to our camps. He has an unearthly resemblance to his dad from 35 or so years ago, so it's sort of nostalgic when I work with him. 

Looping Seniors

Sometimes a student surprises you. Yesterday I was coaching an older player, one of the few non-juniors I'm coaching . He had some major technique problems with his forehand, and we'd been working for a few weeks on fixing them. His backhand, however, was pretty good. His overall level was about 1200 or so. I decided it was time to start him on looping. I figured we'd start with the backhand loop against backspin and spend a few weeks on that before moving on to the forehand loop, where I figured we'd have some problems.

So I went over the backhand loop stroke with him, making sure he had the technique down before actually hitting anything. Then I began feeding him multiball to his backhand with backspin. And he picked it up immediately! I was pleasantly surprised, but not shocked as he did have a pretty good backhand. We worked on it for perhaps 8-10 minutes, and I told him he should make that a strength.

Then, with about 15 minutes left in the session, I asked if he wanted to focus on serves the rest of the way or start work on the forehand loop. He wanted to try looping. So, weeks ahead of schedule, I went over the forehand loop with him, again making sure he had the technique down before hitting anything. Then I began fed him multiball. The very first shot - wham, a perfect loop! Okay, not perfect; he tended to stroke from the shoulder, and hit inside-out. But it looked like one of Timo Boll's patented inside-out forehand loops! We worked on it for ten minutes, and he did the shot over and over, no problem. I was severely impressed. We're going to continue working on these shots so that he can serve and loop from both wings against any push return. And then - dare I say it? - looping out of the rally? Or even counterlooping???

Message from Saive

Here's a video interview (7:19) from Belgium superstar Jean-Michel Saive, former world #1. He talks about his beginning, coaches, the importance of talent, and family.

Ellen Degeneres Surprises Tour Group with Private Ping Pong Tour

Here's the story and video (4:59) from Table Tennis Nation.

Adam Hugh's Second Entry

Yesterday I linked to Adam Hugh's entry to the ITTF Trick Shot Competition. He has a second entry (1:17). He wrote of this one, "This is my 2nd submission. Actually it was the first one I recorded and was originally intended to be a test for the camera but I figured what the heck." Here's the page showing videos entered so far.

Adam Bobrow's 40-Shot Dialog Rally

Here's the video (60 sec) as he lobs away. (Spoilers ahead!) The smasher (Sherwin Afshar) yells something like "Foo-aw!" over and over, and Adam does it right back. Then the dialog begins: "Die!" "No." "Die!" "Not yet." "Die!" "Why?" It all ends with - you guessed it - an edge ball.

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Yesterday's Coaching Activities

I had three hours of private coaching, then a meeting with others to go over our new junior progress reports.

The first session was with an 8-year-old, about 1200 level, who's struggling to decide whether to be an attacker or defender. He may well be the best 8-year-old lobber I've ever seen; he can lob back my hardest smashes dozens of times in a row as long as I don't smother kill at wide angles. (There's something humorous about a little kid lobbing from way back at the barriers!) He also chops well. He's also got a nice loop from both wings, but has one serious problem on both: he's too impatient to do the same shot over and over, and so it's hard to get him to develop a repeating stroke. Unless I keep a firm hand on the drills, most rallies end up with him looping a couple balls, taking a step back after each, and then he's off lobbing and fishing, and looking for chances to suddenly counter-smash. He's recently faced the realization that if he's going to chop, he'll probably need long pips, which will take away his backhand lob - and he doesn't like that. So we're in a state of flux on whether to train him as an attacker or defender. Ultimately, I'm letting him make the final decision. I've advised him that, unless he very much wants to be a chopper/looper, he should focus on attacking, and he can always switch to more chopping later on. It's a big decision that'll affect the rest of his life!!!

The second session was with an 11-year-old, about 1200 level, who's about to finally start playing tournaments. He's playing in the MDTTC October Open and the North American Teams in November, and perhaps others. He's a big forehand attacker who likes to run around the table ripping forehand loops and smashes. Most interesting part of the session was when I urged him to really develop the backhand (while still focusing on the forehand) - and his reaction was he wanted to practice backhands for nearly half the session. We had some great rallies, and near the end it started to really click in. He wants to really focus on serves as well, and I promised we'd start off next session with that.

The third session was with a 12-year-old who was having only his second session since being away all summer. He's about 1000, but rusty. So we're focusing on fundamentals. He's doing really well in multiball drills, where we did a lot of looping against backspin (both wings) and combinations (loop a backspin, smash a topspin). In live drills he's still a bit too erratic, but it's getting better.

Then I met about what I've been calling the Junior Progressions. These are a series of criteria a beginning/intermediate player needs to fulfill to move from Level 1 to Level 5. At the lowest level, players need to bounce the ball on the racket a certain number of times, demonstrate proper grip and ready position, know the basic rules, hit a small number of strokes, etc. As they move up, it gets harder; at Level 5 they have to hit 100 forehands and backhands and demonstrate a few counterloops. We're still finalizing and testing them. We'll be using them for the first time later this fall. Once I'm more confident we have the right criteria, perhaps I'll publish them. (We'd been shown examples of how some other programs did this, such as AYTTO.

The Importance of Lobbing

Here's the latest USATT Tip of the Week, another of the ones I wrote.

ITTF Level 2 Coaching Course in Austin

Here's the ITTF article on the coaching course Richard McAfee ran in Austin, TX last week.

Adam Hugh's Juggling No-Look Target Serve

Here's the entry of former USA team member Adam Hugh to the ITTF Trick Shot Showdown Contest. "Your move." Here's the page showing videos entered so far.

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Focus While You Play

Have trouble focusing when you play? Here are a few tips for keeping or regaining your focus in a match. (Here are some helpful links on sports psychology.)

1. Make a habit of clearing your mind before every point. If it becomes habitual, then it becomes part of your routine, and it'll get easier and easier.
2. Develop simple rituals before each point to help clear your mind. For example, bounce the ball a certain number of times before serving, or take a deep breath, or rub your hand on the table, or relax and drop your playing arm and swing it back and forth (which I do), or something else. If you do the same thing every time, your mind develops a Pavlovian response to it as the ritual signals to it that it's time to focus.
3. If you lose focus, call a 60-second timeout to regain it. You can do this once per match.
4. Pick out something in the distance and stare at it. This helps to clear the mind.
5. Walk around the court between points. Don't overdo it - that's stalling - but a quick walkabout can help you regain focus.
6. Think about tactics before the point as this gives you something to focus on. Then clear your mind just before the point begins.
7. Remember that it is your subconscious that controls play in a rally. Your conscious mind should be just a spectator - its job during rallies is to just watch play and stay out of the way so the subconscious can do its job. So just let yourself go and spectate.
8. Convince yourself it's just another match at your club. Then relax and have fun.
9. Have something on your mind? Then mentally ball it up, spit it out, and put it on the sidelines. Now you can put it out of your mind; it'll be there for you when you finish your match.
10. Too nervous to focus? That's a huge topic. But here's a simple way that often works, similar to the previous one. Imagine balling up all your nervousness. Then spit it out and toss it in the trash can, or toss it out the 

One Awful Footwork Mistake You Don't Realize You Make

Here's the article. Do you fall back on your heels after a strong forehand?

Longest Rally

Here's the article on high schoolers Max Fergus and Luke Logan recently setting the Guinness World Record for longest rally, going 8 hours 30 minutes and 6 seconds to break the old record by about 15 minutes.

Michael Maze

Here's a video (57:04) all about the Danish star and his training. (He's currently #22 in the world, formerly #8.)

Cartwheel Table Tennis

Here's a video (57 sec) that shows a player twice making a shot while doing a cartwheel, apparently an entry for the ITTF Trick Shot Showdown Contest. (Here's a 37-sec video of another cartwheeler from a while back, chopper Chen Xinhua on the far side.) Want to see more? Here's the page showing videos entered so far.

Comedian Daniel Tosh Carries a Big Stick

Okay, THAT's a big PADDLE.

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Junior Program

Monday was my "off" day - the only day I don't coach. But it never really is an off day. First, I did the Tip of the Week. Then I did the blog. Writing a feature article and then blogging should be enough, but that just started my day. Then I spent much of the day doing accounting, planning, and organizing for new MDTTC junior programs.

We have two changes coming up. Until now we've had a system where juniors in my beginning/intermediate sessions bought ten sessions at a time, and came whenever they wanted. This meant that we never really knew how many players would come in a session, and so never knew for sure how many coaches would be needed. With beginners, you need to have a rather low player-to-coach ratio as they can't really practice effectively among themselves yet. So starting this weekend players are required to pay for ten consecutive weeks at a time, either the Saturday session (10:30AM-noon) or the Sunday session (4:30-6:00PM). We will allow players to transfer back and forth from one to the other as long as they let me know in advance so I know who's coming each session. This is similar to how we already set up our school program with local schools, which meets Thursdays 6-7PM and Saturdays 9:30-10:30AM. Yesterday I sent out an email explaining the changes to parents, and emailed back and forth with those who had questions.

The second change is we're adding junior progress reports. This means that at the end of each ten-week cycle the players will be given a series of tests to see how they've improved. At the beginning levels this will involve things such as how many times they can bounce a ball up and down on a paddle, balancing a ball on the paddle while walking about, and explaining and demonstrating the service rules. As they advance it becomes more table tennis specific as they see how many of each shot they can execute in a row, etc. As players improve they will advance from Level 1 to Level 5. Wen and John Hsu were very helpful in putting these together; I'm meeting with them soon to go over and finalize them.

I also spent some time thinking about some of the things some of our juniors need to focus on. For example, I coached one of them in a tournament on Sunday and have a specific list of five things I want him to focus on. It's not always weaknesses you focus on; in this case I was so impressed with his backhand loop in matches that I want to focus more on it as a strength to build around. There was also a serve he did that I think shows promise, and we're going to work on that. (But he also needs work on staying down and driving forward when forehand looping, pushing, and returning serves.) I watched several others in league matches on Friday and have some ideas on things I want them to work on as well. When you give private or group coaching, you can't just watch your players when you work with them; you have to see them in action in real matches against other players to really see what they do.  

How Ping-Pong Saved the World

Here's the full-length documentary (74 min), just released. Description: "How Ping-Pong Saved the World" is a feature length documentary that recounts the events of April 1971 when a U.S. Table Tennis team became the first Americans allowed to enter communist China in over two decades. Their invitation paved the way for President Nixon’s landmark visit just eight months later in February of 1972. For eight days these Ping-Pong diplomats discovered the little known world behind the Bamboo Curtain and in the process reshaped world history. "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" soon became a metaphor for the on-going difficult relations between the United States and China --- two ideological opposites on the brink of detente. It marked the beginning of a new relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China; one that over the next 40 years would evolve into the world’s most important bilateral alliance.

PongPlexed - Twisted Table Tennis

Here's PongPlexed: "Based in Brighton, England, a highly skilled team of artists, designers and Ping Pong lovers have created a range of Tables that are bringing people together through the medium of Table Tennis."

Ping-Pong Balls and Liquid Nitrogen

Here's a video linked from Table Tennis Nation that shows what happens. Or just watch the repeating gif image they show below of the actual explosion.

Table Tennis on a Moon of Saturn

Here's what it looks like! Cool image.

Non-Table Tennis - Capclave SF Convention

On Oct. 11-13 (Fri-Sun) I'll be bouncing back and forth from coaching and attending the local Capclave Science Fiction Convention. It's held annually at a Hilton Hotel about five minutes from MDTTC. For the sixth straight year I'm a panelist. I'm on three panels, two of which I'm moderating. I'm also doing a reading from my upcoming novel, "The Giant Face in the Sky." (I plan to read an excerpt where the sorcerer and his apprentice are going through security at an airport, and meet up with the very literal-minded and bureaucratic sorceress Jackie Kennedy, who moonlights as a security agent. The novel takes place in the 1960s, but the scene satirizes modern airport security.) Any table tennis players want to join me at the convention? You'll get to meet some big names in the SF and fantasy world, including guest of honor George R.R. Martin, author of Game of Thrones! Plus lots of panels and other events to attend, as well as the always great Dealer's Room. Here's the programming schedule. Here's the list of panelists. Here's my Capclave bio. And below is my schedule. (It's also online.)

Fri 4-5PM: God Emperor of Capclave - The Politics and Religion panel (Moderator)
Fri 9-10PM: Amazon: Hero or Villain? (Moderator)
Sat 12-1PM: 1001 uses for an unpublished story
Sun 3-3:30: Reading from my upcoming novel

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Tip of the Week

Real Tactics versus Parroting Tactics.

Tournament Tactics

I coached at a tournament this weekend, which inspired this week's Tip of the Week. Some strange things took place at this USATT-sanctioned tournament. The first match my student played was against a player using sandpaper (!), which isn't allowed in USATT tournaments, but they allowed it. We decided not to protest, and simply played (and won) the match. There was also a group of four that started at 1PM. One player didn't show, and so the other three finished at 2PM, and were returning the clipboard to the desk when the fourth showed, a kid about 13, over an hour late. Rather than default him, the players were told to return to the table and play it out. Again, we didn't protest - I mean, it was just a kid - so we just played it out. (My player barely pulled it out in five games.)

I was coaching a 12-year-old named Sameer, who was rated 1131 but was somehow still eligible for Under 1100 since they were using older ratings. He won the event. The strange thing about his matches (other than playing against sandpaper) was that over and over his opponents had strong backhands but weak forehands. Sameer tends to serve into the backhand, and so struggled in the first game in match after match. Over and over between games I'd tell him to serve to the forehand, and over and over it worked.

Tournaments are great for bringing out strengths and weaknesses. My eyes were opened to just how effective Sameer's backhand loop is getting - and I was wondering if it would be read for the Teams in November! But his forehand loop, while generally strong, has a hitch in it sometimes that we need to work on. When he's not confident, he tends to stand up straight, almost falling back as he lifts the ball.

No-Luck Matches

John Olsen told me an interesting idea this weekend. Players often complain about nets and edges, and let's face it, certain styles get more of them than others. So John had recently played some matches where the rule was if the ball hit the net or edge, the point is a let. He found there was little difference in the results. However, as noted, there are certain styles that will get more of these than others, such as anyone with a dead surface (such as long pips or antispin), which tends to get more net balls than others. A rule like this might make a bigger difference for them. Style also affects the value of these shots. For example, a chopper probably gets more nets than most players, but since their balls are coming in slow (so opponents can react), and since the chopper is often off the table (and o unable to take advantage of weak returns of these nets), a chopper's net balls aren't as effective as some other styles.

Two More Full-Time Table Tennis Centers

I've added two more clubs to the list I maintain of full-time table tennis centers in the United States, bringing the number to 58. (In December of 2007 there were only about ten of them, and that's when I made a proposal to the USATT that they get involved in recruiting and training of coaches to create full-time centers - and was told that there wasn't a demand for such centers.) The two new ones:

• Howard County Table Tennis Center, Ellicott City, MD 
• New Mexico Table Tennis Academy, Albuquerque, NM

USA Men's Champion Timothy Wang Versus Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar

Timothy took on the two PGA golfers. Here's the video (Wang vs. Kuchar, 1:40), and here's a photo gallery.  

Great Block by Dimitrij

Here's a video (12:36, time between points removed) of the recent LA Open Singles Final between Champion Dimitrij "Dima" Ovtcharov and Runner-up lefty Li Tianyu. See the great block by Dima in the point starting at 8:46! in the point starting at 8:46! (See the slow motion replay afterwards.) 

Spooky Pongers

Here's a spooky group of ping-pong players. Maybe this should have gone up on Friday the 13th, but better late than never. Kind of look like Star Wars Jawas, don't they?

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Friday the 13th and a Cold

I've still got my cold, and was tempted to skip the blog again this morning. After all, what worse combination is there than a cold on Friday the 13th? Alas, I dragged myself out of bed and forced myself to do this. Let's all have a round of pity for poor, poor me. (Anybody know where I can get cheap Kleenex? I'm going through a lot.) I managed to do my two hours of coaching last night, but am not sure about tonight's 2.5 hours scheduled.

Wallet and Other Old Stuff

Since I'm feeling very old right now due to my cold, I thought I'd tell the story of my wallet, which turns 32 years old this month. This is only peripherally table tennis related, but since it's a source of legend among the locals, I might as well tell the story.

 In September of 1981, when I was 21 years old, I started classes at University of Maryland. (I'd taken two years off to train for table tennis in North Carolina.) On the very first day I went to the Student Union for lunch, where there were a number of restaurants. I went to the pizza place. When I reached the front of the line I ordered a pepperoni pizza, pulled out my wallet, and paid. As I handed the cashier the cash, I placed the wallet on the counter for a few seconds. When I reached for it, it was gone. I looked around, but couldn't find it. Someone behind me said, "Excuse me, was that your wallet on the counter?" I said yes. The person said someone had just picked it up and left. I ran out into the hallway, but I never saw the wallet again.

That afternoon I bought a new one, and vowed it would last me a lifetime. That was 32 years ago, and I still have the same wallet. It's rather beat up, with several holes, including one in the change purse. (I have to be careful or coins fall out.) The Velcro that closes it is almost gone, but there's still a tiny bit that sort of keeps it closed. Anyway, this month is the 32nd anniversary of someone stealing my wallet, and it's never happened again. Here are two pictures of this ancient wallet, top and bottom.

Unfortunately, while my wallet has remained safe, a lot of other stuff has gotten stolen, mostly in table tennis tournaments. My playing bag was stolen at a U.S. Open or Nationals back in the early 1990s; it not only had my rackets, but also all of my coaching files as the then-chair of the USATT coaching committee. I've had my laptop computer stolen twice, once right off the USATT desk at an Open or Nationals in the 1990s, where I was doing coverage, and once at a tournament in Philadelphia in the 1990s. (That time I made the mistake of leaving the laptop in the back seat of my car, and someone broke a window to get in and steal it. Always leave your laptop in the trunk!!!) Surprisingly, I've never had a racket stolen, though I once had my hardbat racket "borrowed" - just before my Hardbat Singles Final at the Nationals against Marty Reisman in 1997, forcing me to borrow a racket for the match (I lost), with the racket later returned anonymously. (But that's another story.)

Actually, it's been a long time since I've had anything stolen - the playing bag and laptops were both stolen in the 1990s. Maybe I've learned to be more protective of my stuff.

Review of Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers

Here's a review of the book by Alex Polyakov, the author of "Breaking 2000." And if you want to improve your game (as opposed to its smoldering away like a burning ember that'll never quite catch fire), then buy the book! (While debating whether to buy the book or allow your game to never reach its potential, you can read the other 22 reviews there.)

Interview with Ferenc Karsai

Here's a video interview (8:57) with Coach Karsai, coach of 2003 World Champion Werner Schlager of Austria, the last European World Singles Champion. He talks about talent in table tennis and working with Schlager.

Creepy Pong

In honor of Friday the 13th, here's Creepy Pong - see how many Halloween ghouls you can beat at table tennis! I couldn't get it to work in Chrome, but it worked fine in Explorer. It starts with an irritating 30-second Power Rangers ad. Note that when you do play, you can hit the ball harder by moving the cursor in as you hit; otherwise you'll just rally and never score.

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I'm fighting a cold, so no blog today. I think I started coming down with it yesterday, but managed to do the blog and some coaching. But it's a bit worse this morning, so I'm going back to bed, hoping to be in shape to coach tonight (two hours starting 6PM). Meanwhile, here are two matches to watch: Ma Long versus Wang Hao (6:24, with time between points removed) at the 2013 Chinese Nationals (I think Men's Singles QF - can anyone verify?), and here are two of the early great Swedes Kjell "The Hammer" Johansson versus Hans Alser (44:23) in 1970. (Johansson would make the final of Men's Singles at the Worlds in 1973.) Boy has the game changed! Part of this is equipment - try playing modern world-class shots with a sheet of cheap beginner's sponge, which is essentially what they played with back then.

Practicing with Weaker Players

Reader Allen Lin asks me how best to practice with lower-rated players. This comes up regularly at clubs. In a practice match, a lower-rated player cannot consistently push a stronger player. However, just because a player is lower rated doesn't mean everything they do is weaker. There are two ways to get the most out of playing or practicing with weaker players.

First, do practice drills where you play into the weaker player's strengths. Perhaps he can't loop, but can he block? Or perhaps he can't block, but he can loop? Or maybe he has a very good push to practice against. Or good serves. Examine his game and find the best of it, and that's what you can practice against. It's not all one-way, however - he wants practice as well, so take turns. In fact, if you look long turn, you can turn that "weaker" player into a peer that'll give you even more practice and competition. Even if he doesn't reach your level he'll get used to your shots, and at least when he plays you he'll be a good practice partner.

Second, play practice matches where you intentionally play into the weaker player's strengths. If he can't handle your best serves, hold back on them. (Unless, of course, he objects.) Find ways to play what you need to practice against his strengths.  You may risk losing this way, but this is practice. When I play weaker players I often just serve short backspin over and over, and when they push it, I go for a forehand loop on the next shot over and over. It's great footwork and looping practice for me, especially as the opponent realizes what I'm doing and begins to push quicker, wider, lower, heavier, and with last-second changes of direction. He doesn't have to be very good to learn to do this, and it makes me play my very best to get to all these pushes with my forehand. Or if your partner can't block or attack well but has a nice counter-hitting game, serve lots of topspin and go at it with him.

ITTF Level 2 Course

Here's the ITTF article on the ITTF Level 2 I took last week and blogged about yesterday. It includes the following: "Special congratulations to Larry Hodges who scored a rare perfect score of 20." (The article is also linked from the USATT web page.) In the classroom picture I'm on the very far side. The names in the group picture are, L-R, Richard McAfee, Simplice Sourou, Jeff Smart, Larry Hodges, Lily Yip, Nelson Gore, Barry Dattel, Sydney Christophe, Doon Wong, Roger Yuen, and Mieczyslaw "Matt" Suchy.

USA Sandpaper Team

Want to go to the $100,000 World Championships of Ping Pong in London in January, 2014? Here's the info page. "Dr. Mike Babuin, World Championship of Ping Pong USA Qualifier Director, announced today the format for USA players to qualify for the 2014 World Championship of Ping Pong to be played in London, England in January 2014. There are spots for two USA players."

Effective Service Practice

Here's a short article on Serving Practice from Table Tennis Master.

ITTF Trick Shot Showdown

Think you can do trick shots? Then enter the Stiga ITTF Trick Shot Competition! I'm toying with entering something...

Ola from New Zealand

A Piotr "Peter" Ratka from New Zealand is trying to raise money for his 15-year-old daughter Ola Ratka's training. (She is a member of the New Zealand National Women's Squad.) To do so he's created and is selling the Kiwi Ball Picker for picking up balls, with all profits going to her training.

She's also entered in the AMP "Do Your Thing" People's Choice Scholarship. Piotr is asking for your vote - so if you like table tennis and want to support her, go to Ola's Page and vote!

Ma Long is Chinese Men's Singles Champion

He defeats Fan Zhendong in the final, 7,-9,7,-9,-7,9,6. Here's the article, which includes a link to video of the final.

Three Futuristic Ping-Pong Tables

Here they are, from UBERPONG.

Insane Backhand

Here's video (32 sec) of an insane backhand!

History of U.S. Table Tennis

USATT has been running weekly excerpts from Tim Boggan's History of U.S. Table Tennis. Up right now is Chapter 15 of Volume 13, the most recent one, from 1984. (About 2/3 through there's a long excerpt from an article I wrote back then on serving short and returning short serves. Yep, I was writing coaching articles way back then!)

Manga Ping Pong Comic Books

Here they are!

Non-Table Tennis on the 12th Anniversary of 9-11:
TUMBLING TOWERS IN THE DARKEST NIGHT
The jets soared down from high and bright,
Tumbling towers in the darkest night,
3000 died in this crazy blight,
Who brought forth this unspeakable sight?

Towers toppled from a monster’s spite,
Bodies crushed with no chance of flight,
What was, to a madman, the highest height,
For the rest brought forth just rage and fright.

The world exploded in a bigger fight.
We bombed and killed in a show of might.
We avenged the act because we were right.
But when will humanity see the light?
-Larry Hodges

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Tip of the Week

In case some of you missed it, here is the link to yesterday's Tip of the Week: Where to Serve Short?

ITTF Coaching Course

What an incredible week! I returned late Saturday night from six days at the ITTF Level 2 Coaching Course taught by Richard McAfee at the Lily Yip Table Tennis Center in Dunellen, New Jersey, Mon-Sat. It's part of the ITTF's Coaching Development Program. I took the Level 1 Course two years ago in Colorado Springs, as well as a Course Conductor Course which qualified me to teach that course. (I've taught one so far.) Richard had been trained by ITTF to teach the Level 2 Course.

A big thanks goes to Richard McAfee, the course conductor, who (even as I write this) is teaching another course in Austin, Texas; to Lily Yip and Barry Dattel, our hosts at the Lily Yip TTC (where they even cooked us free lunches each day, often spaghetti or Chinese food); to Adam Hugh for letting us stay in his attic; and to the ITTF for creating the program.

I drove up to the course with fellow Maryland coach Jeff Smart (a past USATT Coaching Chair from long ago), who had received his Level 1 certification from the class I taught two years ago. I hate long distance driving, so I agreed to use my car if he'd do the driving. To save money, he and I spent the week in Adam Hugh's attic! (It was roomy and quite comfortable, and even had a bathroom.) At night we had many philosophical discussions on politics, religion, table tennis, and ice cream. We often agreed on the last two items.

Each day included two three-hour sessions plus lots and lots of homework and study. I brought a book to read in my free time, not realizing there wasn't going to be much free time. (Well, perhaps that's because of my somewhat obsessive outlook on studying.) About 1/3 of the time was spent in classroom on theory, the rest at the tables where Richard demonstrated the techniques, both from the book and from his own experience. Much of the table time was spent with the participants giving assigned lectures on various techniques.

Participants in the course were Sydney Christophe, Barry Dattel, Nelson Gore, Larry Hodges, Jeff Smart, Simplice Sourou, Mieczyslaw "Matt" Suchy, Doon Wong, Lily Yip, and Roger Yuen. It was quite a varied group.

Here's a rough day-by-day rundown.

DAY ONE: Coaches Presentation; Level 2 Presentation; General Principles of Sports Education; Basic Principles of Contact - "Peeling and Gumming" (grazing the ball and sinking it into the sponge) and "Carry, Dropshot, and Smashing" contacts (contact without adding speed or spin; contact where you remove speed and spin; contact where you add speed or spin); and Basic Principles of Spin. (What we call sidespin and corkscrewspin they call lateral and deviated spin.) I was also assigned to lecture on the ideas that "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing" and "Sport is not war." I gave examples where these were true or false. Winning isn't everything or we'd all use poor sportsmanship to win (as some do). I argued that when we play sports, we think of ourselves as warriors, so sport can be thought of as war with rules - except war does have rules (no chemical weapons, for example), so they are more alike than we think. Main difference is few die in table tennis! I also gave a ten-minute training session on sidespin blocks.

DAY TWO: A Complete Technique (balanced game, speed, consistency, variation, adaptability); Observation; Techniques for Scoring the Point (power, speed, consistency, variation, placement); Movement; Proprioceptivity (knowing where your body is); and Free (strong leg) and Standing Leg (weak leg); and Producing Good Players. I was assigned to give a lecture on "What is Performance?", which covered Physical, Technical, and Psychological. I also ran a ten-minute session on the double-bounce push receive, where you push a serve back so that, given the chance, it would bounce twice on the opponent's side of the table, with the second bounce very near the end-line.

DAY THREE: Energy Pathways (Alactic Anaerobic, Lactic Anaerobic, and Aerobic, plus VO2Max, Maximum Aerobic Speed, Maximum Aerobic Power, and ways to improve Aerobic and Anaerobic fitness); Footwork; Serves. I was assigned to lecture on "Postural Adjustments for Covering the Middle," which I demonstrated for both forehand and backhand, as well as covering some of the historical development of these techniques. I also ran a ten-minute session on fast, deep serves.

DAY FOUR: Theory of Psychology and the Brain (such as, what does each hemisphere of the brain control and brain mechanics); Serve; Receive; Topspin (looping); Defense. I also ran a ten-minute session on backhand chopping.

DAY FIVE: More on Psychology; Blocking; Smashing; Multiball; Different Contacts. I also helped several coaches with their multiball skills. I also explained one of my favorite multiball slogans: Feed Fast, Feet Fast! I also ran a ten-minute session on smashing loops. (During this lecture I was "attacked" by the robot vacuum cleaner that roved the training center much of the time. Okay, it bumped into me as I lectured. I have to get one of those for MDTTC!)

DAY SIX: This was Testing Day. We started with a one-hour review session. Then we got to the testing. Many of us had spent much of our nights studying for this. There were two parts to the test. For the first part (worth 10 points) we were asked five different questions, and graded on how we answered them. I was asked questions on the Anaerobic Threshold (when the body begins to build up lactic acid in the muscles); on the left side of the brain (which controls emotion, speech, judgment, values, logic, and reason, as well as the right side of the body. Or was it the right brain I was asked about? Now I'm not sure, but that controls artistic, imagination, automatic body functions, proprioception, processes images and sound, and controls the left side); improving stability (wider stance, bend knees); Ways to Score the Point (power, speed, consistency, variation, placement); and one other that I can't remember offhand. I think it was Secondary Needs (achievement, recognition, and respect).

For the second part (also worth 10 points) we were each assigned a topic to run a ten-minute training session for four other coaches. I was assigned "Topspin to Topspin" (i.e. counterlooping). The four coaches in my group were Jeff Smart, Matt Suchy, Simplice Sourou, and Lily Yip (playing shakehand inverted instead of her usual pips-out penhold). It went pretty well. After a brief lecture and demo (with 2500+ Matt), I had them first do straight counterlooping, forehand to forehand, Jeff with Matt, Simplice with Lily. Then I had them do a version of multiball I like, where one player with a box of balls serves backspin, the other player pushes it back, the server loops, and the other player counterloops. The server doesn't play out the point; as soon as he loops against backspin he grabs another ball and repeats. It's a great way to learn to counterloop against a ball looped against backspin, which has a different trajectory than one looped against block or topspin. Lily (in her shakehand mode) tended to let her wrist fall back, and also tended to lean to the ball instead of step to it; Jeff tended to use too much upper body instead of more lower body; Simplice needed to pull more with his left side (he's a righty); Matt had pretty much perfect European bent-arm looping technique, looking like a righty Timo Boll.

I was quite relieved to pass, with a perfect 20 out of 20. Yes!!! One thing that helped was my determination to give all my practice lectures without notes. Most of the coaches would jot things down in advance and teach from the notes, but I had the advantage that I've lectured at over 170 five-day camps (yes, that's 850 days of camp, plus lots of group and private sessions), so most of this was second nature to me. (I did, however, have to be careful to include what the ITTF manual considered important, which didn't always match my lectures.) I'm certified by USATT as a National coach, the highest level, but ITTF requires all coaches to go through each step, and so much of the course was review of stuff I've been teaching for decades.

However, I'm not done yet. In addition to taking the course and passing the exam all coaches have to do 50 hours of coaching afterwards to attain ITTF Level 2. I'll have that done in less than two weeks, by Sept. 21 at the latest.

It wasn't all work and study. On Tuesday afternoon I took off some time to take on challenges with my clipboard, and played six matches, and went 6-0, and 17-0 in games. I beat a 2256 player 3-0; a 1970 player 3-0 and 3-0; a 1956 player 3-0; and an 1882 player 3-0 and 2-0. It was one of my best playing sessions ever. On Wednesday night I was brought back to earth by Matt, rated 2509, who won 3-0 (3,6,9), and then beat me at deuce and deuce with a mini-paddle with inverted sponge, looping and smashing like a maniac with it. On Saturday I gave Jeff Smart (the 1956 player above) a rematch, but first coached him on how to play me. Bad mistake! He won easily this time, but credited my coaching for his victory.

It wasn't all perfect. A lot of time was put into creating the ITTF Advanced Manual, but it was written originally in French. Whoever translated it into English did not speak English as a first language and did not seem to know table tennis, and so it was very difficult to read and figure out what was being said. There was also a lot of memorizing, which I didn't always like as I prefer to understand rather than just memorize things.

There should be an ITTF article coming soon, along with pictures; I'll post the link when it comes out.

How to Serve like Timo Boll

Here's Part 1 (which I linked to previously), and here's Part 2 (just out).

USATT Tip of the Day

USATT runs a daily Tip of the Day. Right now they are rerunning the 177 Weekly Tips I did back in 1999-2003 under the pseudonym "Dr. Ping Pong." Today's tip ("Proper Backswing") is the twelfth consecutive day they've used one of my tips.

Ernie Byles: Saved by Table Tennis

Here's an inspirational article on National Senior Singles and Doubles Gold Medalist Ernie Byles and how the sport helped him overcome cancer. I know Ernie well since he plays regularly at MDTTC (as well as the Potomac Club mentioned in the article), where we've battled many times. (I still have nightmares about his massive two-winged spinning game, his backhand hits, and his incredible lobbing.)

Ping Pong: The Over 80 World Championships

Last night PBS ran the one-hour (52:09 to be exact) documentary Ping Pong. "Seven players with 620 years between them compete in the Over 80 World Table Tennis Championships in China's Inner Mongolia." I watched the last half hour. You can watch it online.

Kagin Lee's Blog: A Professional Player's Auxiliary Skills

(Kagin is a member of the USATT Board of Directors)

Here's the blog. "A professional player needs to be able to do more than just play table tennis. Learning to serve, receive, and rally are obviously important, but they're not the only ingredients necessary for long term success. Here are some things that I believe all professional or aspiring players should learn."

ITTF Monthly Pongcast - August 2013

Here's the video (11:26). This one covers five Junior Opens, one Paralympic event, and three stops on the ITTF Pro Tour.

Backhand Highlights at the 2013 World Table Tennis Championships

Here's the video (2:65) from the ITTF. There are some really insane shots here!

UBERPONGBAT Combines Ping Pong with Fighting Video Games

Here's the video (3:09).

Table Tennis in a Cubisty Matrixy World

Here's a new table tennis artwork from Mike Mezyan.

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Tip of the Week

Where to Serve Short?

Lots of Stuff to Write About - Tomorrow

I have a LOT to write about after spending a great week at the ITTF Level 2 Coaching Course at the Lily Yip TTC in New Jersey. I've also got pages of links for other interesting segments. Alas, I've been on the go for weeks without a break, plus I woke up this morning with a headache. So I'm taking one more day off from blogging. I'd already written the Tip of the Week (see above), so hopefully that'll tide you over. Tomorrow I'll have lots to write about the ITTF Coaching Course, including what was covered, the day-to-day activities, the final exam, and how I was assaulted during a lecture I was giving by a robotic vacuum cleaner.

But here's a picture of donkeys sort of playing table tennis.

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